The Stone Raven Flies Nevermore
by TripC130
Summary: Diaval was once known as Diablo but lost his name in a millennia of stone. He is an immortal Raven in love with his mistress Maleficent. When his love is rebuked and he knows he can never have her, he leaves his mistress, never to return. As a raven who can change into a man he flies the world and year after year, millennia after millennia, seeks love to fill his shattered heart.
1. The Stone Raven

**The Stone Raven**

**To my readers: this story focuses on Diaval, but it is a crossover fanfiction. only allows you to choose two to represent the crossover but this story spans many more than that. There will be important characters from: Maleficent, Harry Potter, Snow White, The Secret of Moonacre, Teen Titans, Rise of the Guardians, The Craft, Aladdin, Narnia, and Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. In reading, it will help to imagine the characters in human form not cartoon form. Please give this fanfiction a chance! Sincerely, TripC130.**

He could feel it. That soft pulse of blood that he remembered so well and yet was such a distant memory. But he knew it was there, he could hear it, taste it… oh how he remembered its sweetness and how he longed for it! He did not breathe, he did not move, he wasn't even alive. But still, even made of stone, he remembered blood. Yes, he remembered blood very well and he knew that it was near. Oh how he wished he could snap his beak at it and drink his fill, tearing at the flesh of the creature that dared come so close. But he couldn't. He could only remain and remember for eternity ever since that day so long ago.

There had been a great battle in Maleficent's castle. Her idiotic goons had captured Prince Philippe and the three fairies had come to his rescue. In all the commotion, Diablo, Maleficent's most trusted companion, tried to warn her but was hit with a spell that petrified him for eternity. Now, on this day, he knew that great power was near. He could feel the blood so close yet unreachable. Suddenly, his stone wings gave way and with a tremendous crack the stone crumbled away. Diablo stretched his wings and took flight. He screeched in anger and exhilaration at finely being set free.

Diablo's sharp eyes scanned below him and he saw her. The woman who had set him free. He dove, the taste of blood fresh in his mind and he longed to have it again. He hand went up and as his beak opened to slice through her pale flesh when his wings stopped frozen. Diablo panicked! No! This couldn't be happening! Not again! He couldn't go back to a life of stone! He could feel his winged body being lowered onto the crumbling castle ledge. The woman stepped from the shadows and looked down at him.

"Pretty bird… you will serve me well." Diablo took in every inch of this woman and she looked so similar to his Maleficent except that a huge pair of regal black wings stretched from her back. She waved her fingers and black smoke engulfed him. Diablo was terrified and suddenly his fragile bird bones shattered and agonizing pain ripped through his entire bird body. He was growing into a massive creature.

By the end of it he stood before the woman, a man in her presence. The woman with black horns so like his master's, smiled.

"What is your name?" She asked.

"Diabvlo…" He hissed. He had not used his voice in years and this new tongue in which he spoke was foreign and strange. She cocked her head.

"Diaval? Is that your name raven?" He shook his head, frustrated at the strange speech that made his name so hard to pronounce.

"Diabvlol." He said again with little success. She waved her hand dismissively.

"Your old name does not matter anymore, now you will be called Diaval, is that clear?" He nodded and she smiled. "Good. I am Maleficent, will you fly with me Raven? There is much to be done." With another wave of black smoke he was transformed back into a Raven.

Maleficent spread her massive wings and launched herself from the crumbling castle wall and Diaval followed suit. She was as graceful as any raven and just as beautiful. He admired her as they flew over the overgrown wasteland that had once been a magnificent dark castle. Diaval wondered to himself how this woman had acquired his master's name? Perhaps he would learn her story with time, but for now, he would fly!

Diaval had served Maleficent for sixteen long years since she had released him from his stone imprisonment. He felt as though history were repeating itself and his master was yet again after the fair Princess Aurora. Had the Maleficent that Diaval had known so many years ago been a predecessor of this one? How long had he been encased in stone since that time? Diaval didn't understand this black magick… whatever it was, it scared him.

Upon studying Aurora or Briar Rose as she was called, he found that he was slowly falling in love. He watched her grow from a wee babe to a strong and confidant sixteen year old girl. He was stuck in a seventeen year old human form and would never age. This was Maleficent's curse so that she could keep him by her side as her pet forever. Diaval was Maleficent's trusted servant once again, after slaving for her for sixteen long years. She trusted him and he was in love with her as well.

In the sixteen years he made no move to win Aurora's heart or his master's. He merely stood back in the shadows and watched with an ever growing longing. Aurora was in love with Phillippe and Maleficent had always loved Stefan… Diaval never had a chance. So he watched and he served the both of them as friend and devoted companion.

It was seventeen years before Diaval was given the chance to show his love. Seventeen years of Aurora's life had passed and he had been with Maleficent for many more than that. And so, it began on a sunny summer's day.

"You're my most trusted companion Diaval." Maleficent said as they walked through the forest.

"Thank you Mistress. I would do anything for you." He responded. Maleficent turned to him and placed a hand on his cheek.

"When I saved you so long ago… I never imagined that we would become so close… and now…" Diaval held up his hand to silence her.

"We are companions until the end Mistress. That is all need be said." Maleficent smiled, a rare occurrence that was most welcome in Diaval's eyes.

"I love your smile." He said, forgetting his place. It disappeared as quickly as it came and he regretted his words. "Mistress, it is not such a bad thing to be happy. Do… do I not make you happy mistress?" He asked cautiously. A small smile graced her lips once more.

"Of course you make me happy Diaval. You are my only friend in this world." Diaval took her hand cautiously. Maleficent stared down at their intertwined fingers.

"Diaval…" She began but he closed the distance between them in a stride and caught his name with his lips pressed to hers. Her fingers ripped from his own and the black smoke choked him once again. His large human bones splintered and shrunk and his skin sprouted feathers. He watched with saddened eyes, as he became a raven once more.

Maleficent's eyes were hard and cold as she stared at him. "Never again Diaval. You are my trusted servant but you know that my heart is for Stefan… You know that." Diaval squawked and took to the air, flying away from her and not looking back. He would surely return, but in a day or two when the grief of rejection subsided. He would never have her love and though he stayed by her side, even after Aurora was crowned queen, he knew it was hopeless. And so, it was upon a midnight dreary, that Diaval left Maleficent's side, vowing never to return to his Mistress again.


	2. The Raven's Lost Diadem

**The Raven's Lost Diadem**

The year was nine hundred ninety-eight, thirty years since he had left Maleficent. Diaval lived a modest life in a small chateau in the Glen of Scotland. At present he was lounged on a black velvet settee reading the paper. The door to the house opened and closed and Diaval looked up from his reading.

"Welcome home my love. You are well I presume?" He asked as he stood, setting the paper aside. A tall woman with long wavy black hair smiled at him.

"Yes Diaval, I am well, what of yourself?" The woman asked. Diaval embraced her and kissed her warmly.

"Rowena Ravenclaw my love, I am wonderful now that you are home." Rowena smiled and laughed, a chiming bell of a sound that was sweet to his ear. He took her hands and pulled her over to sit on the settee with him. "So, how is Hogwarts doing? Are classes going well?" Rowena smiled and suddenly doubled over in a bought of coughing. Diaval watched her worriedly. The coughing had been getting worse over the years. Diaval had met Rowena in nine ninety-three when she and three others were planning the construction of a massive school for witches and wizards to study and learn. Diaval had assisted her through all of it and had fallen in love with her along the way.

In the six years that Diaval had been with Rowena, he had courted her and now they lived with one another in the cozy chateau. He knew that Rowena wanted marriage, but Diaval just wasn't ready for that. He had been introduced to her daughter, Helena and had watched as Helena grew up and attended Hogwarts under her mother's tutelage. Rowena was widowed as her husband fell ill and passed on just before Helena was born. Rowena was thankful to Diaval for being a fatherly figure for Helena as she grew up and this brought them even closer as the years went by. Diaval loved her and her daughter and would do anything for them.

Diaval settled Rowena onto the settee and moved to sit in a wingchair near her.

"Love, you are getting weaker, is there nothing that the physicians can do for you? I worry every day that you might leave me in this world alone." Rowena smiled and took his hand.

"Diaval, my love, you are everything to me. You have cared for my daughter and I for years and I am indebted to you. I am old Diaval and you… you remain young and healthy, immortal if you will. I wish for you to marry me, though I know you will not…" She trailed off, her eyes filled with sadness.

"Rowena my dear, you know that I cannot. I am not meant to marry and be happy because my wife would surely die and I will outlive my great grandchildren's grandchildren. This is the curse I am bound to my love. There is no changing it. So, I will spend my years loving you until you draw your last breath and then I shall move on. I will never forget you or your daughter when that day shall come to pass." He promised. Rowena smiled sadly.

"My Diaval… you care so much and yet you do not have the logic enough to just marry me! I beg you Diaval! I love you with all of my heart! I want to give you all of my worldly possessions so that you can raise my daughter as your own, and claim her as your own! She will have no one of relation after I die Diaval! She could have you though… even… even if you were to marry her and not me… I would still die happy." Diaval clutched Rowena's hands tightly.

"No! I will not marry your daughter Rowena! It is not her that I have courted for so long… it is you whom I love my beautiful Rowena. I see Helena as my own daughter, not as an option of love." He said.

"Hush, I know. Oh, my Diaval, I do love you so." She pulled him into her embrace and kissed him passionately.

Two years later, Rowena had a falling out with Helena. Helena had just graduated from Hogwarts and was envious of her mother's knowledge and wit. She felt that the diadem that her mother always kept with her was the cause of it, thinking it had a spell upon it. She took her mother's diadem and fled to Albania, taking her mother's heart and health with her. Rowena spiraled into an un-healable illness that no physician, witch or muggle, could heal. Diaval remained by her side watching her slowly deteriorate and fade away and knowing that there was nothing he could do to save her.

As Rowena lay on her deathbed she turned her head to gaze at the raven perched on the bust above her door. She extended her hand and the raven flew down to her. He flew to the ground beside her bed and transformed into a man. She smiled at him and pulled back the blanket.

"I need your warmth… lay with me, please." Diaval climbed into bed with her and held her gently in his arms. Her weak frail body shivered against his strong masculine chest.

"Diaval…" He looked down into her fading blue eyes.

"Yes, my love?"

"I… want you to go find the Baron. You know of whom I speak. He loved Helena in her years attending the school. I need to see my daughter one last time… and… I want you to have my diadem." Diaval shook head and opened his mouth to protest. She squeezed his hand.

"Please… my lovely raven… I need you to take it so that you can remember my daughter and I. I want you to go with the Baron and help him find my Helena. Come back to me when you do and give me one last kiss before I die. And… tell me how my Helena is doing. Please, Diaval… I don't have much time left to live. My legacy lives on in Hogwarts and my daughter… and lastly in you." She leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips. "I need to sleep my love. Find my Helena… bring her back…" Rowena drifted off to sleep, her brow creased in worry and regret.

Diaval smiled and placed a kiss upon her forehead and left the bed. He transformed into a raven once more and flew to the window, perching on the sill. He glanced back at Rowena lying on her deathbed and flew out into the night to track down the Bloody Baron.

The Bloody Baron had become famous as a renowned tracker and hunter in the wizarding world. He worked on the police force in London and his name as the Bloody Baron suited him well. He had hunted down hundreds of criminals and put them to there deaths. Diaval knew just where to find the skilled tracker, in The Three Broomsticks pub.

Diaval pushed open the heavy oak door and stepped into the dimly lit pub. The sound of laughter and clinking glasses reached his ears. He walked over to the old bar and pulled out a stood.

"Ah, Diaval, long time no see lad, what can I getcha'?" Diaval smiled and placed a galleon on the counter.

"Just a butterbeer today." He said. The barkeep nodded and turned around to prepare one. Diaval scanned the room and spotted the Bloody Baron sitting at the end of the bar, nursing a tall glass of firewhiskey. Diaval stood and walked over and sat down beside him.

"Baron, what a coincidence seeing you here." He said. The Baron smiled dimly.

"Yes, young Diaval? What can I do for you?" He drawled. Diaval smiled. The Baron knew him so well, they had spent many a night talking over a glass of firewhiskey in the old pub.

"It's not per say for me, but for my mistress, Lady Rowena." The Baron nodded, his face darkening.

"Yes, I was saddened to hear of her illness getting worse. How is she faring?"

"Not well I'm afraid. We fear that she will not have much longer with us. Baron… she requests your… expertise." This caught the Baron's attention.

"Yes?" He asked slowly, studying Diaval carefully.

"Her daughter Helena, as you know, has fled to Albania with Lady Rowena's prized diadem. She knows of your… feelings towards Helena and requests that you track her down and ask that she come home. She could think of no one better suited for the protection and safe guard of her daughter but you sir." The Baron's chest puffed out with pride.

"Indeed. Well, if that is the case then, we must head out immediately!" He stood and teetered slightly and gripped the back of the chair for support. Diaval stood and lowered him back into the bar chair.

"Perhaps we should wait awhile until the alcohol isn't so prominent." Diaval suggested. The Baron nodded and eyed his glass of firewhiskey.

"Aye, I'd say that would be good then." He slid the glass away from him across the bar top and the barkeep caught it just before it toppled off the edge of the bar. He glared at the Baron and brought over Diaval's butterbeer.

"Another one for the Baron if you don't mind, Tom." Tom nodded and walked away to prepare the drink. Diaval sipped his butterbeer, his thoughts on his dying lover and her run away daughter needing to be found, and soon.

They booked passage on a ship and sailed for six days across the sea to Albania. In total it took fourteen days to find Helena Ravenclaw and in the end the search was futile.

The bloody Baron paced the floor of the small study in front of Helena while Diaval perched as a raven outside on the window sill.

"Helena, your mother is dying and her last wish is to see you once more before she dies. Why will you not obey her wishes and just come home? Please, my lady, if not for her sake, then for mine. Helena, you know I still have feelings for you…" He approached her hesitantly and she rebuked him harshly.

"No! I despise my mother and she can die alone and miserable! I am for once, smarter than she! I have her diadem and I have a steady job, and a life! I will not leave it just to fulfill her silly whims. I will not be controlled by her any longer!" The Baron was livid and he stalked towards her. Helena became frightened and shrank away from him.

"Yes you will! I have not traveled for fourteen days to this God forsaken country to be refused by you! You are coming home to see your mother!" He grabbed at her wrist and pulled her forward. Diaval watched with increasing worry as the scene unfolded before him. He now wished that he had been in the room when the Baron was with her.

Helena screamed and wrenched and lashed out at the Baron, slashing his cheek with a letter opener on the desk. In an uncontrolled rage the Baron took out his dagger and stabbed her repeatedly. She fell to the floor, screaming at the top of her lungs as she begged for him to stop. The Baron continued to plunge the dagger into her body and face aggressively. Only when her screams ceased and her body lay limp did he stop.

Diaval screamed and pecked hard against the window with his beak. He transformed himself into a human and clung to the side of the building as he smashed his fists against the glass. The glass gave way beneath his pounding fists and shattered and he leapt into the room and tore the Baron away from the unmoving body of Helena Ravenclaw.

"What have you done!" Diaval screamed at him. The Baron dropped the dagger to the floor with a loud thud and stared at the stabbed and bloody dead body of his hearts desire.

"Merlin… Helena… no!" He fell to his knees and scrambled forward, embracing Helena's body against his own. Great sobs racked his body and he picked up the dagger from floor and stabbed it into his chest before Diaval could stop him. The Baron gagged and bloody burbled from his mouth and he fell on top of Helena, dead. Diaval shook his head sadly and retrieved the diadem from Helena's corpse, transformed back into a raven and flew away.

Back in Scotland, Rowena was very near death and had only a few hours left to live. Diaval flew into the open bedroom window and stood beside her bed somberly. When she woke she turned her head slowly and her eyes were filled with worry and love as she gazed at him.

"Helena refused to return and the Bloody Baron killed her in a rage and then took his own life. I'm so sorry Rowena but there was nothing I could do." Rowena's eyes filled with tears and her body convulsed with sobs. Diaval laid the diadem beside her on the bed and turned to leave.

"Raven..." She croaked. He turned back towards her and she extended a hand. He went to her side and clasped her hand in his. She opened his palm and with a shaky hand placed the diadem in it.

"Remember me… Diaval, my… l-lovely raven." Her breath let out in a sigh and her hands fell limply to her sides. Rowena Ravenclaw was dead and Diaval left to find a new life with love and grief weighing heavy on his heart.


	3. The Queen, the Apple, and the Raven

**The Queen, the Apple, and the Raven**

Being Immortal had its ups and downs. Diaval remained in Scotland for quite some time and then when many of the friends he had known died, he moved on and flew to England. Diaval gained an audience with the queen of a small rural kingdom and with charm and cunning he quickly wormed his way into the royal court. He had a preference for a life of luxury, especially in the year ten-twelve, when luxury amongst muggles was scarce. Now that he was no longer a part of the wizarding world of that age, he thought that he could settle down in the muggle community for a while. At least until the people around him died once again while he lived on, or suspicions began to arise. He sought refuge in the royals because he knew that his secret could be protected here. And the Queen of this small kingdom proved no exception. When Diaval revealed himself to her as a shapeshifter, she revealed to him that she was also a powerful sorceress. The two made a formidable pair and as she was not wed to a king, Diaval soon became the replacement.

Diaval was the Queen's closest consort besides her magic mirror that she consulted with daily. Once again he watched from his perch as the Queen paced back and forth in front of the mirror.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me once more who is the fairest of them all?" She eyed the ghostly face with hope haunting her eyes. Every day Diaval watched those beautiful eyes grow dimmer and dimmer with hatred. Her soul was slowly burning into a charred black husk because of her vanity. As the mirror foretold time and again, the queen's daughter, Snow White who was princess to the kingdom was truly the most beautiful. The Queen hated that she had bore such a divine daughter that could surpass even her own beauty. As the mirror spoke Snow Whites name yet again the Queen screamed in rage and Diaval transformed into a man.

"My queen, please, be still. You are beautiful in my eyes." The queen stared at him with dead angry eyes.

"Diaval, you tell me this so often. Don't you tire of such trickery? My mirror tells me the truth. You do not you pathetic raven." Diaval glared at her and followed her into her bedchambers.

"I tell the truth as I see it your majesty! You are most beautiful! I have served you for four years and still you deny it! No magic mirror can see more than a human man can." He approached her and took her hand in his. "You, my queen, are more lovely and fair that any other woman in this entire kingdom. Why do you think that you are the ruler? You are powerful and the most stunning… every woman would kill for a beauty such as yours." He bent at the waist and kissed her hand. She turned her palm in his and he kissed it moving up to her wrist.

"You tell such wonderful lies Diaval…" She snatched her hand away and went to the window. She stared out of it morosely and her expression darkened.

"Look at him. He fawns over her like she is a freshly picked flower in need of pruning! That prince comes into my kingdom and asks for her hand! Not mine…"

"What prince could do you good my queen other than to give you a brief amusement. If you were to marry a prince, he would steal your kingdom faster than you could beg for a kiss. The only thing that prince craves is power. He is not interested in Snow White for her looks, my Queen." Diaval came up behind her and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"Your looks far surpass her own." He purred into her ear. "She might be a princess, but you have made sure she does not look the part. She is filth, a servant under you. You could have any man in this kingdom you desire my Queen." She turned in his embrace and kissed him.

"You are the only man I desire my royal Advisor. What would advise your Queen upon this situation?" Diaval smiled.

"Let us put aside titles for a while my love." He kissed her once again and she relaxed in his arms.

Later as they lay naked together in bed she turned to him. "Diaval, what if something were to happen to that perfect little princess? What if… no… it's to perfect." She flung back the sheets and got out of bed and dressed. Diaval sat up and stared at her.

"My Queen, I'm not sure I understand?" She looked at him, her eyes wild.

"My huntsman, I need my huntsman! Diaval! You could give me the gift of Immortality! I could remain Queen forever! And with Snow White out of the way… say by an accident in the forest? It's perfect Diaval. We could rule together forever!" Diaval rose from the bed and shook his head.

"My Queen, I don't know how to make you immortal. The Sorceress who did this to me did it as a curse. Being immortal is not the life that you want." She beamed at him.

"To be young forever? Stay beautiful and never age? That would be wonderful! And even if you don't know, I am a sorceress! We could figure it out together Diaval! It would surely work. You could reveal yourself and marry me at last! You could be my king…" He approached her and she embraced him and kissed him passionately before rushing out of the bedchambers.

Diaval transformed himself back into a bird and followed her into the throne room where he perched upon the back of her throne. The Huntsman was called in and the plot began.

"take her far into the forest. Find some secluded glade where she can pick wildflowers."

"Yes your majesty," said the huntsman.

"And there, my faithful huntsman, you will kill her!" The Queen had a deranged glaze in her eye and the huntsman went pale.  
>"But your majesty! The little princess!" He protested. She rose in fury and her voice rose with power and authority.<p>

"Silence! You know the penalty if you fail."

"Yes, your majesty." The huntsman bowed and did not meet her eyes.

"Just to make doubly sure you do not fail. Bring back her heart in this." She produced an ornate box decorated in gold and turquoise. He approached her and took it from her hands.

"Now go! Return with her heart and I will richly reward you." The huntsman bowed once again and left the throne room.

"It's perfect Diaval! By days end Snow White will be gone and I will be the fairest in the land! I will rule as Queen forever!" Diaval had changed back into his human form and stood beside her throne.

"You forget, my Queen, that we do not know how to make you immortal. Without Immortality, you will die and age and lose your beauty." She turned to him, her eyes deadly.

"You will find a spell that will work my pesky raven!" Diaval's eyes widened and he transformed and flew upwards but wasn't quick enough before she snatched him into her hands and clutched him tightly. He squawked in protest and attempted to bite her with no success.

"Hahahaha! You stupid bird… you will do this for me or I will do all in my power to kill you."

The Queen rushed through her castle, clutching Diaval tightly in her hands and wound her way down the stone staircase into the dungeons. She thrust open a door and threw Diaval roughly onto a wooden table.

"You will do this! I must be immortal! I must remain beautiful! Diaval… please do this for me, my sweet pet." She walked towards him and reached out a hand to stroke his glossy feathers. He snapped at her fingers and she laughed and turned to leave.

"Then stay down here until you find a solution. You'll starve eventually, so you might want to get working my pet." She strode from the dungeon and slammed the door behind her.

Diaval sulked about the small chamber for three days and hunger began to gnaw incessantly at his insides. He had pored over all of her spell books fervently but had found nothing that could produce immortality. He would waste away in this chamber, never able to die and he feared, never to see his beloved Queen again. Suddenly the door flew open and his Queen entered the small room. Her angry face faltered and softened when she laid eyes on him.

"Diaval… I am sorry my pet that I have left you for so long. Ha-have you had any success?" Diaval remained silent. She looked away.

"I see. You are angry with me. I let my anger fuel me and I hurt you my pet." She approached him and extended a hand towards his face. He jerked away from her.

"You left me down here for three days! You are lucky that I am Immortal, most humans would be half starved by now. I havn't found what you seek. Your books are worthless to me. Immortality is achieved by a darker magic than even you possess." He looked at her, his eyes hard and unforgiving and hers, to his surprise, were sad.

"My Diaval… my lover… you have had quite a life haven't you? To live forever, wandering this withering world every day for all eternity. Never able to escape it, you can only journey constantly. What a hard life you lead. If only I could be the one to share it with you. That is all I want Diaval. Beauty means nearly nothing to me, if I cannot have you… Will you forget me when I am gone my lovely raven? Will you fly away from here and create a new life for yourself? I know you will… I just wish that I could join you…" Diaval approached his grieving Queen and touched her cheek.

"You would forget beauty for me? You would leave behind your vanity to be with me forever?" She nodded and clasped his face in her hands and kissed him with such passion it took his breath away.

"My Queen…" He had not felt her touch in three days and he craved it. He grasped her and clutched her to his body. There kisses grew more passionate and desire filled them to the core.

Diaval unclasped her cape from around her neck and let it fall to the stone floor. He removed her hood and crown and swept aside the books scattered about the table. He kissed her now revealed neck passionately and ran his fingers through her long ebony hair that always remained concealed beneath her hood. She was the spitting image of her thirteen-year-old daughter and was twice as beautiful and she knew it to. The Queen was vain but Diaval didn't mind playing up her vanity. He adored her and lusted after her in every way imaginable. He flung her body on the tabletop and took her, letting out his anger at her betrayal and let her screams of pleasure echo through the chamber.

Once it was finished his Queen stared at him with more love and respect than he had seen in her eyes for many years.

"I love you my Diaval… you will always be my king. The Huntsman should be returning to me soon. Will you wait here for me? I've another potion I wish to brew with you." Her eyes burned as she smirked at him. He bowed and beamed right back at her.

"As her majesty commands. I shall wait my love for your return." She stole one last passionate kiss and left the dungeon chamber.

Quite a while later the door was flung open once more and his Queen stormed into the room, carrying the box containing Snow Whites heart. She looked furious, and certainly not in the mood to _brew another potion _with him. He was perched as a raven a top a skull on the table and was startled by her angry entrance.

"The heart of a pig! The blundering fool! I'll go myself to the dwarfs cottage. In a disguise so complete, no one will ever suspect! Now, a formula to transform my beauty into ugliness, change my queenly raiment to a peddlers cloak. Mummy dust, to make me old. To shroud my clothes the black of night. To age my voice, an old hags cackle. To whiten my hair, a scream of fright. A blast of wind to fan my hate. A thunderbolt to mix it well. Now, begin my magic spell!" The Queen barely paid any attention to Diaval as she began to brew a potion in her fury. Diaval watched with interest and remained silently perched upon the skull. His hopes of another encounter upon the tabletop had already vanished. His queen had a deranged and wild look in her eyes as she held the cup of bubbling green liquid up in front of her.

"Diaval… she must die by my own hand. And I will kill her but she can't suspect me! Will you still love me when I am old and haggard?" She finely turned towards him, a questioning look on her crazed face. He squawked at her and nodded. She turned away and downed the drink.

Diaval watched as she stumbled and the cup fell from her hand and shattered on the stone floor. He moved from one talon to the other nervously as she clutched the table near him gasping, her breath ragged and her eyes wild. Her body began to age rapidly. "Look! My hands!" Her hands and skin crumpled and wrinkled. Her once rich clear voice turned marred and crackled. "My voice… my voice! Hahahaha!" She stared at Diaval but her beautiful face was gone and replaced with a haggard horrifying creature. Diaval shrunk away from her, disgusted.

"A perfect disguise! And now, a special sort of death for one so fair." She pulled a dusty spell book from the shelf and flipped through its pages. "Lets see… Ah! The poisoned apple! Sleeping death. One taste of the poisoned apple and the victims eyes will close forever in the sleeping death…" Her aged eyes glittered malevolently and she cackled with madness.

"It's perfect Diaval my pet! I will kill her with an apple! I know that girl and she will become a fool… I will be the fairest! I will!" She picked up an apple from a burlap sack in the corner and began to make the poison. Diaval watched with interest, never once interfering or changing his form as she worked.

"Dip the apple in the brew, let the sleeping death seep through. Look! On the skin, the symbol of what lies within. Now, turn red, to tempt snow white to make her hunger for a bite." She laughed and thrust the poisoned apple at Diaval who careened backwards from it. "have a bite! Haha! It's not for you. It's for snow white. When she breaks the tender peel to taste the apple from her hand, her breath will still, her blood congeal, then I'll be fairest in the land! But wait! There may be an antidote. Nothing must be overlooked." She rushed over to the spellbook. "Oh! Here it is! Victim of the sleeping death can be revived only by love's first kiss. Love's first kiss. Bah! No fear of that. The dwarfs will think she's dead. She'll be buried alive!" her madness only seemed to increase as she fled from the room. She took one last look at Diaval and cackled. "Buried alive!" And slammed the door.

Diaval instantly changed back into a human and wrenched the door open and ran after her.

"My Queen!" He hollered just as she was about to climb into a boat. She turned towards him and smiled a horrifying smile.

"My pet, fly above and find the cottage where Snow White is staying. Guide me, and I'll reward you my sweet Diaval." He nodded and took off as a raven into the gathering fog.

He flew through the fog, staying above her small boat and then above her as she walked through the thick forest. The journey was long and grueling on her but they soon reached the cottage in the glen. Diaval passed by two large vultures and the three eyed each other with distrust. Three birds of carrion all fighting for a meal to come. Diaval would be the first to get the juicy bits however. He perched in a nearby tree and watched as his Queen disguised as an elderly hag approached the cottage.

"All alone my pet?" Snow White gasped.

"W-why yes I am, but…"

"The little men are not here?"

"No, they're not, but…" The queen smiled nastily.

"Mmm… makin' pies?"

"Yes, gooseberry pie."

"It's apple pies that make the men folks mouths water. Pie made from apples likes these." She produced the bright red poisoned apple.

"Oh they do look delicious."

"Yes! But wait till you taste one dearie. Like to try one? Hm? Go on, go on, have a bite." An angry twittering filled the tree next to where Diaval was perched and tons of tiny birds bolted out. They swarmed his queen and attacked her. Diaval watched with a wary eye but made no move to intervene. She struggled and Snow White ran out and swatted the creatures away and led her into the house. Diaval strained to hear and flew closer, perching just above the window.

"And because you've been so good to poor old granny, I'll share a secret with you. This is no ordinary apple. It's a magic wishing apple!"

"A wishing apple?" Snow White asked curiously.

"Yes. One bite and all your dreams will come true."

"Really?"

"Yes girlie! Now, make a wish and take a bite. There must be something your little heart desires? Perhaps there's someone you love?"

"Well, there is someone."

"I thought so! I thought so! Old granny knows a young girls heart. Now take the apple dearie and make a wish."

"I wish… I wish…"

"That's it! Go on, go on!"

"I wish that my prince would come and that he would carry me away to his castle, where we will live happily ever after!"

"Fine! Fine! Now take a bite! Don't let the wish go cold!" Snow White bit into the apple and Diaval felt a strange elation at watching the young girl fall to floor and her life slowly drain from her body.

"Oh… I feel strange…"

"Hahaha! Now I'll be the fairest in the land!" His Queen cackled in triumph and bustled from the little cottage. She walked away from the small cottage and suddenly the forest was filled with angry shouts. The Dwarves had returned. Diaval flew ahead and spotted the Dwarves riding on the forest creatures, coming after his queen. He screamed to his queen to run and run she did. She ran through the dark forest and climbed up the rocks, trying to escape the men who pursued her. She came to the top and had nowhere to go.

Picking up an old branch she lodged it beneath a bolder and attempted to dislodge it so that it would fall on the men growing closer and closer.

"Diaval! Help me!" She screamed in panic. She took a step back and thunder crashed around her. Lightning illuminated her haggard face and she slipped and the stones broke. She tumbled down the rocks, a blood curdling scream ripped from her throat as she crashed to the rocks below and the boulder fell in her wake.

The rain pounded and all was silent. Diaval circled above the crushed and broken body of his dead Queen and watched as the vultures descended upon her carcass. It had been a while since he had tasted blood and flesh. He descended down the rocky valley and joined the vultures in their feast. His Queen could now fulfill all of his desires with the utmost precision and she didn't even have to lift a finger.


End file.
